


hold me while you wait

by awespiring



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling, F/M, Fluff, post-ffh, so kind of spoiler-ish?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 01:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19780318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awespiring/pseuds/awespiring
Summary: Cuddling shouldn't make her feel this safe, but it does.





	hold me while you wait

“What happened to all of your Star Wars figurines?” MJ asks him offhandedly one day when they’re hanging out in his room.  
  
“My what?” Peter laughs awkwardly, “How did you know about those?”  
  
“You and Ned were always talking about them in class. I figured they would be displayed somewhere in your nerd-infested room.” MJ says, taking a playful jab at his natural nerd tendencies.  
  
“Uh, yeah—about that,” He motions for her to scoot over on his bed and plops himself beside her. MJ had her legs crossed, resting her hands in her lap, and Peter was sitting with the leg closest to her propped up so his foot was flat against the mattress and his other was hanging loosely over the edge, mindlessly swinging it back and forth, “I sold all of them.”  
  
“Are you serious?” MJ asks, her eyes wide in shock.  
  
Okay, so maybe she was a bit of a nerd, too. She knew how much those kinds of merchandise went for and it couldn’t have been a split-second decision. This was obviously something Peter thought about for a long time before going through with. But, why?  
  
“It’s kind of embarrassing.”  
  
“Then you have to tell me.”  
  
Peter huffs, glancing over at MJ.  
  
“I needed enough money to buy your necklace. So, I sold them.”  
  
“ _Peter_!” MJ promptly slaps him on the arm, mouth hung open. “Really?”  
  
“I had a whole plan in Paris to ask you out.” When Peter thinks about it now, he feels stupid. He could have just told her back at the Opera or when he bought the gift back at the beginning of their trip. “But, you know—“  
  
“Is that what was in the bag that day when I caught you coming out of that store?” MJ asks curiously.  
  
MJ’s doesn’t understand how to react. She’s never had anyone do something so nice and out of the complete goodness of their heart, with no expectation of anything in return. Especially not from someone who cared about her. This was all new to MJ. She still got scared when Peter tried to hold her hand sometimes and had to rest the sudden urge to pull away.  
  
Peter understood though. MJ wasn’t super affection all the time and tried to act low-key at school, he was cool with it. He just didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around him. But in reality, he provided her with so much comfort that it made her never want to leave his side. Because if she did, she would lose him. At least that’s what she told herself.  
  
“And it’s broken now.” MJ laughs sadly, looking down at the piece of jewelry hanging around her neck. She hadn’t taken it off since and even kept the little broken pieces in a box at her bedside.  
  
“Yeah.” Peter says quietly, moving so he could lay back on the bed. MJ follows him hesitantly, twisting to lay on her side so she could face him.  
  
“When are you coming back to school?” MJ asks after a while. Peter looks at her before staring up at the ceiling. He shrugs.  
  
They hadn’t talked about the incident all week. But, Peter had ghosted everyone but her and Ned, who was even more worried than both of them. Plus, May and Happy decided it might be good for him to lay low for a while. He couldn’t face his classmates, especially Flash.  
  
“Whenever this blows over.” It’s a half-assed response from Peter because they both know that isn’t going to happen.  
  
“Flash hasn’t shut up since. I think you just need to face things head on. A lot of people didn’t even really care if I’m being honest.” MJ tells him.  
  
“Can we not talk about it right now?” Peter asks, his voice softer than usual. MJ nodded.  
  
This was hard for him. MJ understood that.  
  
“Come here.” He beckons, motioning her closer. She scoots awkwardly in his direction and Peter laughs, nudging his arm under her head. MJ clears her throat and adjusts herself so she’s resting more comfortably against him.  
  
MJ was glad she and Peter were close in height, so she never felt dwarfed by his size. Most guys were intimidated by how tall she was, but Peter loved it.  
  
“You can relax, M.” He tells her, breathing into her hair. “It’s just us.”  
  
Right. Just them. No one else. She didn’t need to hide here.  
  
She hesitantly reaches out, wrapping her arm around his midsection. Peter pulls her closer, keeping her snug against him. She swears she hears his heart beating—a steady pace compared to her rapidly racing heart. MJ couldn’t explain why Peter made her nervous, he just did.  
  
“I know.” She mumbles into his chest.  
  
And then she feels it, his free hand running his fingers through her hair, caressing her head. She doesn’t want to look at him, afraid she might scare herself away. But, he continues on like that for several minutes, brushing stray hair out of her face and twirling a few curls around his index fingers.  
  
This is what being comforted felt like, MJ soon realized, because she found herself relaxing like she never had before.  
  
“Want me to stop?” Peter asks quietly, rubbing a soft spot by her temple. MJ looks up at him quickly and glancing back down. Never, she tells herself. Never stop.  
  
“No.” MJ responds, rubbing her fingers idly against his cotton shirt, trailing up and down his spine. Touching did _wonders_ for comfort sometimes.  
  
“Okay.” Is all Peter says before leaning over to press a kiss against the top of her head, lingering for a long while.  
  
“I _really_ like you, Peter.” She tells him honestly and out of the blue. It startles her. “I can’t lose you.”  
  
“I know,” Peter tells her, voice muffled from where it was resting against the side of her head. “You won’t.”  
  
Peter couldn’t lose her either. Because he didn’t just like her, he _loved_ her—the way she trusted him, comforted him. He loved the way she would smile and talk about her day, but still ask him about his.  
  
He couldn’t let her go. Not anymore.


End file.
